


Fang and Claw

by Femalefonzie



Category: Spider Riders
Genre: Angst, Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, character origins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-13 02:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1209037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femalefonzie/pseuds/Femalefonzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunter and Corona get curious about Igneous's past and decide to go to Slate for some answers. What they got though wasn't anything they could have ever possibly imagined. This is the story of how Arachnia's Fang and Claw duo met, how Igneous got his spider and why he never brought up his family life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part one of three. I used to love this show as a kid and always wondered what Igneous's back story was so one day I wrote one for him. It wasn't until recently I found the old, handwritten sheets while cleaning out my closet so I decided to type and post it on here. Enjoy this story explaining a number of things left unanswered about the coolest spider rider!
> 
> 1\. What his hometown is.
> 
> 2\. Who were his parents.
> 
> 3\. How he met Slate.
> 
> 4\. Why he became a spider rider/knight.
> 
> 5\. Where he got Flame.
> 
> 6\. Why he hides his emotions.
> 
> 7\. The root cause for his phobia of ghosts.
> 
> 8\. Why Slate and Igneous used to be called "Fang" and "Claw" respectively.
> 
> Yay! Igneous and Slate central fic!
> 
> (PS: I want to know if any of you would have any issues with some Slate/Igneous slash? I'm not talking about full-scale yaoi but maybe a one-sided crush or buried feelings? Just a question.

"Hey Corona?"

"Yes Hunter?"

"Can I ask you something that's been on my mind for awhile?"

The two were currently laying outside in the grass outside the palace, killing time the time before dinner by just looking up at the sky and gossiping about all that was happening Arachna. Today was one of those wonderful days where Corona didn't try to cook something and so everyone was eagerly awaiting dinner. The others were off doing whatever they pleased. Prince Lumen was taking a nap, Princess Sparkle was having a tea party with Grasshop, Weeval and their kids, Magma had gone out drinking with a couple of friends from in town, Aqune was in her room and Slate and Igneous were off training together. Overall, the day had been rather peaceful and enjoyable. No attempts at invasion, no problems in the village, no issues what so ever.

"Oh?" Corona asked, sitting up to get a better look at the boy. He was looking up at the sky, eyes shut and his arms tucked lazily behind his back. "And just what's that?"

"..." Hunter sat up as well, folding his arms together in front of his chest. "...I was wondering about the others. I mean, you know about me and I know about you and your sister and Lumen and Aqune but what about the others? What's their stories?"

"I don't really know." Corona said with a small shrug, "Magma had simple beginnings and if you ask him about it, he's always happy to share but I don't really know about Slate and Igneous."

"And you never had the urge to ask either of them?" Hunter asked.

"Once or twice." Corona confessed, "But Igneous didn't really say anything. He just turned on his heel and left me standing there. I even asked Prince Lumen once but all he said was one day he and Slate just showed up and joined the knights."

"Hmm..." Hunter mumbled, clearly not satisfied with the answer. His eyebrows knitted together and he started scratching his chin, trying to piece together the facts and create a plausible explanation for their sudden appearance in Arachna so many years ago and refuse to speak of their pasts to even their closest friends. Perhaps they were hiding something...but what could there to hide? Slate's village was small but from what he HAD actually told Hunter, they were happy and friendly. So what could they possibly hiding!?

Recognizing the look on Hunter's face as the one he got when his mind was made up about getting something done, Corona knew what was happening next. Without saying anything she rose to her feet and offered her friend a hand to help him get up as well. "Dinner still won't be for a little while..." She told him, "And I know what's on your mind right now Hunter Steele!"

The boy grinned, pulling himself up with help from Corona of course. "Let's go have a little chat with Slate and Igneous!"

* * *

"You're rusty, old friend!" Slate exclaimed with a grin once their training had finally came to a halt for the day, watching his friend clean up the mess they'd managed to create in their battle with a cocky sense of pride. In actuality they were both evenly matched and odds were, neither would ever be able to beat the other. That wouldn't stop either of them from trying though. Most of their friendship was built around them getting into little tiffs with each other. "While you were away, you let your guard down and got soft! Might I ask how come?"

Igneous gritted his teeth together, griping the broken hilt of one of the swords the two had used and broken hard enough from his hands to start to bruise. Slate was pressing the wrong buttons today but he wasn't going to let him get to him today. "...Keep your mouth shut and I won't have to decapitate you today."

Slate laughed, dropping lazily onto the dirt ground as he continued to watch the other in amusement. "That's not the first time you've made that threat and I'm willing to bet that it won't be the last." Over the years, he'd received all sorts of threats from his friend/rival due to his so called 'annoying' and 'childish' behavior. He might have been one of the strongest knights in Arachnian history as well as one of the greatest leaders but that didn't mean he didn't like to have a little fun while doing his duties. Otherwise...it'd all just be boring. A life of doing the same thing day in and day out. Slate didn't want that.

With a somewhat frustrated but not at all surprised sigh Igneous gave up his idea of cleaning up after the two of them and sat down beside his friend in the dirt, looking up at the sky and relaxing for a moment. Just a moment though. Even good warriors like him needed to take a break every once in a while. "Hey...you know I haven't seen Blade in awhile...what ever happened to her?"

Blade had been Slate's spider. A rather quiet but incredibly agile red and black spider resembling a black widow. It was rather odd that Slate hadn't mentioned her or wasn't wearing his manacle. Had something happened during his years away?

"She's fine. Left her with my dad to help him out with harvesting crops." Slate explained, casually tucking his arms back behind his head and grinning. "He needed some help getting them into the market on time and Blade likes pulling the carts for him. Plus he's getting on in years so she's really helping him out." He chuckled a bit, "Although you probably know about the age thing by now."

"Hmm." Igneous mumbled in agreement, rolling over onto his side. He understood exactly what Slate was getting at but it wasn't something he wanted to admit and confirm. After all things sounded so much more real when you said them out loud.

"..." Slate frowned, biting the inside of his lip and wondering what had upset his friend this time. Igneous had always been rather moody even though he tried his best to contain his emotions and not let anyone else see them. Part of Slate had always been curious to know if his friend had always been this way or if it was something that changed inside him after...He shook his head violently, earning himself an odd, quizzical look from the fang of Arachnia.

"What's wrong with you?" Igneous asked, sitting upwards. "You're being weirder than usual. Which is really saying something because it's you we're talking about."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry!" The blond apologized with a laugh before sitting up himself. "What do you want to do now? Dinner won't be ready for awhile so we should figure out something to do to kill some more time." He brushed some dirt off of his clothes, smiling a bit.

"I don't know." The blue haired warrior said with a small shrug. "Neither of us really do much other than train and fight the wicked."

Sad but true. They both needed to get some hobbies...or girlfriends. Since someone was still sobbing over his last broken heart though they were going to have to get hobbies instead. Boy that had been a fun story for Slate to hear, while he was defending the castle from evil his best friend had fallen in love with a freaking queen and went into shock for a couple days when she rejected him. Yes, he laughed a little upon hearing it but like any good friend he was there to support the poor guy too.

But what could they do other than train? Ride Flame everywhere and hit on any pretty girl who happened to walk by? You can bet that Igneous would grow tired of that real soon! He didn't like picking up girls the way other guys did.

"Hey Slate! Igneous!"

Their heads simultaneously whipped around to see both Hunter and Corona jogging towards them and waving frantically trying to get their attention. This set off the alarm bells inside the two boys' heads and they sprung up onto their feet, drawing swords from their holsters and getting ready to fight.

"What is it!?" Slate demanded, his eyes scanning and looking for any scenes of invectids. "Is there an invasion!?"

"Just point us in their direction and we'll come out swinging!" Igneous added, frown lines appearing on his face as he always scanned the surrounding area. "I've been itching for a good fight all day!"

The younger spider riders came to a halt and began rubbing the back of their necks sheepishly. "Uh, actually there's no invectids." Hunter confessed, avoiding eye-contact with the older boys. "We just wanted to ask you some questions."

"Oh." Igneous said and hung his head in disappointment, stuffing his sword back into's holster. "Well what is it then? What did you want to ask?"

Hunter elbowed Corona in the stomach, "Come on! Ask him your question!"

Judging from the look on the young girl's face, Slate and Igneous both knew that it had been Hunter's idea to start asking questions but was placing the blame on Corona in case things went a little south. Her eyes grew to roughly the size of saucers and the poor girl started to stammer a bit before finally managing to get the question out. "I-I mean we,...we-we're ju-just wonde-wondering if yo-you c-could tell us a b-bit about your families...?" She asked, her words slurring together by accident. "It's just...we all know ab-about the rest of us but you guys..."

Oh no. Slate's eyes darted over to his friend, watching his reaction to this. The knight paled, his eyes turning dark as the oncoming storm. Both Corona and Hunter jumped back, noticing this as well. "You want to know my origin story?" He asked, pursing his lips together in a frown. "A long time ago there was a man and a woman. They fell in love, got married, conceived and gave birth to three sons. I was the youngest. I left home and became a knight. I befriended Slate and that's where it ends." He turned his head to the castle, a dark storm cloud forming around his head. "...I think I'm going to go see if Prince Lumen is up from his nap and check in on Princess Sparkle and Grasshop."

And on that note, he left the three others standing there and watching him go. It wasn't until Igneous was half-way to the castle and well out of ear range that Hunter spoke up on the little story the older spider rider had just told them.

"Well...that was...something."

"It's the same thing that happened the first time I tried to talk to him about his past." Corona said with a disappointed sigh. "I'm beginning to worry about him."

"How come?" Slate asked, not as upset with his friend's outburst due to being one of the few people in Arachnia who actually knew the truth about Igneous and where he'd come from. Of course, he had been sworn to secrecy by his friend never to tell a single living soul about it.

"Well, what if his parents were abusive!" Corona explained, lowering her voice to a hush as she spoke, even though she knew that the only others currently around could be trusted. "He could have severe trauma from years of living with them and they should be punished! What if they're...what if they're one of those families that yells and fights a lot and he's scared to show his emotions because of that! What if they were drunks or did drugs or even prostitution or-"

"I think he gets it." Hunter interrupted, paling a bit as every new possibility came to light. The poor kid couldn't imagine what it would be like to live with a family like any of the ones Corona just suggested and if it turned out that Igneous had come from such a dark home...He shuddered at the thought.

Slate's usually warm smile had been erased when Corona started listing off explanations. Now he had the same look on his face that he had when he'd been told he had to fight his best friend to the death in order to protect his village. "You shut your mouth!" He snapped at the two of them. "You don't know anything about his history! Igneous's parents were good people!"

"Wait...what do you mean?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise at this little outburst. "Do...Do you know about Igneous's past?"

"And what do you mean 'were'?" Corona asked, looking rather quizzical herself. "What happened to them? Come on! You have to tell us now!"

"What's the deal with that boy and his past!?"

"Where the heck is he from!?"

"What ever happened to those brothers he mentioned and if it was something bad, what was it!?"

"How'd you two meet?"

"Why'd you become knights?"

"Is it connected to the way he hides his emo-"

"Woah there!" Slate exclaimed, waving his hands in an attempt to get the two to stop asking so many questions. "Yeah, I know about Igneous's past but it's not like I openly go around telling people all about it! It's...it's..." He didn't know how to properly word it so Corona and Hunter would both understand. It wasn't in their natures to just leave well enough alone. "...Igneous doesn't like bringing it up because it only depresses him and he thinks that it'll make people treat him different. Pity him, you know?"

The two spider riders nodded in understanding but that didn't stop Hunter from suggesting something. "But what if we promised not to let Igneous know that we know? And never brought it up again?" He elbowed the older boy a bit. "Come on, it's just because of curiosity! We promise not to tell anyone else a single thing!"

"Yeah!" Corona agreed, making puppy-dog eyes. "Please?!"

Knowing that he'd already gotten him in too deep with these two, Slate sat back down in the dirt and gestured for the others to do the same. "Alright." He said with an exhausted sigh. "I give. I've been keeping his secret for years, I can't keep it in anymore!" With eager looks Corona and Hunter sat down in front of him, looking as excited as children on Christmas and hanging off of every word. Slate had to suppress a sigh, knowing that this eagerness and peppiness would vanish as soon as they got into Igneous's story. "I guess I should start at the beginning then huh? Well...like he said earlier, Igneous came from an average size family of five. He had two older brothers, normal parents and they lived in an average size village not too far from my own. It's was actually located above mine, on the top of a small mountain in a cool, beautiful, lush area with tons of trees, foliage, flowers, lakes, rivers and even a waterfall! It was a picture perfect view...and that's why the image was quickly shattered."


	2. Chapter 2

"Back before he even met me, Igneous was living with his family in this mountain village. From what I heard, it was this nice, pleasant place, popular with knights and spider riders who had wanted to escape the rat-race for a bit, were planning on retiring or had gotten injured and had to lay low for awhile. That's how Igneous's father, Fitz, ended up there. When he'd been younger he had been a spider rider just like you and me but things had changed."

"What's that supposed to mean? Who'd give up being a spider rider!? No village could have been that nice-"

"...He fell in love Hunter. You know? Met a pretty girl and decided that he wanted to stick around there with her, have a family and get a job that didn't risk his life every second day of the week."

"Oh." Realization dawned on the young boy's face. " _OH_!"

"Can I go on or are you content with this knowledge?" Slate asked, preparing to get up off the ground. "Cause if you're not going to listen than I'm not going to go around blabbing about things Igneous doesn't want to share..."

"NO! NO! NO! GO ON!" Corona shouted, angrily slapping a hand over her friend's mouth to get him to be quiet. "I've been waiting to hear this story for a while now! I want to hear it!"

Hearing this made Blake chuckle, even though it was in poor taste. He sat back down and continued, "So I assume you guys know where it goes from that point right? He marries the pretty girl, gets a safe job and they have a couple kids. Three boys to be exact. Tolkin, Doyle and our good buddy Igneous..."

* * *

**_ Ten Years Earlier _ **

_"The oldest was Tolkin. He was about eight years older than Igneous and three years older than Doyle. Naturally, he carried out the older sibling stereotype of being serious, overprotective and responsible. Doyle was the middle child, about twelve years old when this story takes place. From what Igneous told me he was a clever boy but an easily excited one who seemed to find trouble wherever he went. They got along like normal brothers. They'd fight, they'd steal stuff from each other, they'd goof off...they acted like children until the dark day came..."_

Have you ever noticed how on days when something big is about to change, it starts off just like any other day and nothing seems to be heading your way? This seemed to happen a lot more in the inner world than on Earth. The day Igneous got his manacle and became a spider rider was no different. Like every other day, he awoke to the sound of his two older brothers squabbling downstairs while his mom and dad tried to split the two up. As the youngest in any family would do, Igneous hurried out of his room and downstairs into the kitchen to see what had set the two off this time.

Like the majority of families in the village, Igneous's family lived quite comfortably. They weren't exceptionally wealthy or had a huge house but they didn't live in poverty. In fact, their parents made a fair amount of money by running the only pub in town. It was a smart move opening the place up, since a lot of the people passing through and staying only for a couple of days liked to partake in the consumption of alcohol and let their hair down. The five of them lived above their establishment, everyone pitching in to keep the place up to code. The kitchen was located downstairs, along with one of the two bathrooms which was also available for customers, while upstairs there were three bedrooms (Tolkin and Doyle's shared room, Igneous's and their parents'), a bathroom and a living room. It wasn't a big place, or the best looking but it was home and a young Igneous couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

On this particular and important day, he was just seven years old and looked quite different than he did as the teenage he was now. His hair wasn't gelled and combed upwards in what could be mistaken as a tribute to sharks and instead hung around his head, face and shoulders in a riot of dark blue curls. His eyes and face weren't as sullen and even had a sparkle to them that would later be erased as he aged and grew more aware of how cruel the world was. I guess you could say he still had his innocence.

The pub was empty with a couple empty mugs lying around, waiting to be cleaned up later on in the day when the boys were working just before their parents opened up shop for the day. The walls were painted a nice, cold mint color with a couple of pictures of well known Arachnians hanging on the walls for the customers to look at while eating and drinking. He crossed through the empty rooms towards the kitchen, his smile growing as the noise his brothers were making grew louder and louder with every step.

Before he could open the door and take a peak in though, two older boys came tumbling out, their hands wrapped around each other's throats and screaming loudly at each other. They were followed closely by a woman trying to separate them and failing. Like Igneous, this woman had the same light green eyes although her hair was short and stopped just below her ears and was a light, mango color. While the boys rolled around on the floor, not listening to a single word she shouted at her, Igneous watched with a semi-amused smirk for a couple minutes.

"What set them off this time?" The small child asked the woman, reaching out to tug on her dress and get her attention. "Did Doyle eat the last biscuit again?"

"Oh, Igneous." The woman, his mother, said with a small smile, ruffling her youngest child's hair as she did every morning when he awoke. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself about angel. Your brothers are just..." She sighed, opting to take her eyes off of her older two children at the moment. "...They're just being themselves. Go have some breakfast, okay? Your dad wants to talk to you about something."

"Okay mom." Igneous said with a smile, although he remained lingering in the room at her side for a few minutes, wanting to see how his brothers would settle this little fight. Last time it ended with Doyle shoving Tolkin's face into a snowbank! The two were always coming up with fun ways to settle their differences. Unfortunately for young Igneous this wasn't one of those fun times. Instead, their mother was able to pry the older two boys apart.

He walked into the kitchen and sat down in the same place he sat every morning, right across from where his father always sat. When compared to both of his parents, it was no competition that Igneous took after his father. Their hair was the same dark, navy blue and their cheekbones and jawlines were the same, they had the same nose and grin...whenever you looked at Igenous, you could see his father. He was currently enjoying a piece of bread, listening to the racket his older sons were making in the other room as he ate.

"Good morning dad." Igneous greeted him, trying to keep eye-contact although it was rather hard. His eyes kept falling on the device around his father's wrist. It was a weird looking object but yet an interesting one. A spider rider's manacle. He'd already learned in school that manacles were rare and each was different but his father's was one that was considerably pleasant to the eye. It was a dark shade of aqua, with a dark, blood red crystal and two small yellow lines. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, Igneous was obsessed with the manacle. It gave him this weird feeling in his chest whenever he looked at it...like it was important somehow...he wouldn't tell anyone else about this though. They'd all think it was crazy.

His father gave him a small nod in response. "Morning son." He finished eating his piece of bread and smiled warmly at his kid. "Has your mother talked to you yet or were Tolkin and Doyle distracting her?"

"No..." The youngest of three replied with a small shrug of his shoulders. "She said that you wanted to talk to me but she didn't say what about. I'm not in trouble am I cause if I am I can pretty much guarantee that it was actually somehow Doyle's fault..."

"You're not in trouble Igneous and neither are your brothers." His father assured him, "I wanted to properly introduce you to a good friend of mine and then show you boys something I learned a couple years back. As you know, for many years I was a spider rider in Arachna but I retired and now I'm too old. But you three aren't. I wanted to show you some of the things you'd be doing if you decided to join the spider riders, although there's no pressure to run off and sign up today! If you want to stay here in the pub or do something else like become a merchant that's fine as well! Me and your mother just thought you might like to see what you'd be getting into."

Igneous nodded although he didn't quite understand what his father meant. Of course he'd like to be a spider rider! They were the bravest heroes! They defeated all of those nasty invectids and saved the day! Once he was old enough, Igneous was going to go off and become one of the best spider riders in all of Arachna!

Sometime later, once they had settled their little scuffle, Tolkin and Doyle entered the kitchen with their heads hung in defeat. They shuffled over to the table and sat down, mumbling insults directed towards each other as they ate. Their father rolled his eyes and took a long drink of water. Sibling rivalry was quite common but the older boys were taking it a bit too far.

"When are you leaving?" Their mother asked, reentering the kitchen and sitting down at the remaining empty seat. "And where are you going to go? I don't want you all going to the forest by the mountain edge, okay? Some of the spider riders from Arachna castle told me that they saw some invectids down there when they were passing through."

"There's no Invectids this close to the village, love, and even if there are we aren't going that far." Their father assured her with a charming smile, "I'm just going to take the boys up to the cliff and show them one of the moves me and Flame have been perfecting over the years. Ain't that right Flame?"

His manacle lit up in response although the spider inside didn't say anything. Flame didn't speak much. He was more of the strong and silent type although he would talk if he needed to. Igneous had never heard him speak yet in the short time he'd been alive but it was only a matter of time. It would happen sooner or later. His father chuckled, patted his manacle and took another drink.

"...Just don't kill our boys or else I will have to push you off the roof." Their mother instructed them, "I'm going to go open up. We're supposed to have another group of riders coming in here tonight. Be sure to be back in time to help out."

"I know better than to let something like that happen." Their father assured her and stood up. "Come on then boys, you heard your mother. Let's get back here as quickly as possible so we don't have to something as long brow as tossing out drunks or cleaning vomit." There was always one spider rider in every group that thought he or she could hold their liquor only to upchuck a couple mugs in. No one liked having to deal with that.

Hearing this made all three boys groan. Drunk spider riders were the most in-your-face kind of people in the world. They wouldn't shut up about all of their battles, they'd practically beg for more beer even when it was obvious that they couldn't handle it and they'd do the stupidest things. One day one particular rider tried to fly by jumping off the roof and would have ended up a splatter on the ground if it hadn't been for Flame and their father.

The three brother stood up and followed them out of the kitchen and towards the door. If they kept walking and didn't stop, it wouldn't be long before they got to the cliff and then they'd be able to return home and be spared the wrath of their mother.

* * *

" _You guys remember that cool trick Igneous was able to do with Flame? Where he'd jump from high up and have Flame catch his feet with spinnerets and pull him back up while doing a couple of flips? That was the trick their dad had perfected with Flame over the years. He really wanted wanted to teach his sons that and on this day that's what he did." Slate couldn't help but smile sadly as he remembered the next part of the story. "It was learning this trick that saved Igneous's life. That and his stubbornness."_

The boys' father spent the next couple of hours teaching the boys how to do his signature trick. He took them to the edge of the cliff, a straight drop off with a nearby waterfall that crashed down into a lake below. There was another small village located a couple of miles outwards. One by one, the would jump off as the spider known as Flame caught them and yanked them back up to safety. They'd do a flip, land and go off to the sidelines to watch the others. Well...that's how it went for their father and Tolkin. Doyle and Igneous' experiences were slightly different.

Doyle's first attempt ended with him bashing his head into the side of the cliff while during Igneous' first attempt one of the spinnerets snapped and he came a little too close to becoming a pancake. After being pulled up to safety and embraced by his father who was pleading for him not to tell their mother and be more careful, young Igneous decided he didn't want to die that way or experience something like that ever again. He wanted to get away from the cliff, however, he also wanted to learn his father's trick.

"Dad?" He asked shyly, as most children would when asking for something they wanted. "...Could we maybe go around to the lower cliffs on the other side of the village?" At least there it wasn't as far to the ground.

"Of course." His father replied, understanding the obvious reasons why his youngest child would have issues being high up. "We'll go to the lower cliffs and practice a little bit more-"

"Actually, dad, I think I have this down." Tolkin piped up, "Plus mom probably wants some help back at the pub. It's getting close to lunch time, the crowd's bound to be heading over soon."

"Good idea. Your mom can't take care of everyone by herself. You go on ahead and we'll be back to help out as soon as we finish up." Their father said with the charming smile he'd been known for a spider rider. He picked Igneous up and put him on his shoulders and they walked back through town with the others, in front of their place Tolkin left the group and went inside while the others continued on wards. They had no idea that Igneous's little request, his simple request, was what would spare them if only for the time being.

* * *

The three of them let time slip away as they continued to practice this silly little trick on the small cliffs, on the opposite side of the small village they called home. Flame was quiet and stoic, not saying a word as he helped the three boys jump and not brake their necks, although he was happy then. You could tell that he was enjoying the time he spent with his rider and his kids. They spent the while day there, just having fun doing simple things and enjoying each other's company. Igneous, Doyle and their father were a like in many ways other than appearance and this was just another bonding experience between them. Tolkin, on the other hand, was more like their mother and looked more like her too.

Hours passed and it wasn't until they saw the first explosion and heard the first rounds of screams did they realize how long they'd been gone.

Igneous froze, having been in the middle of a drop when he heard the loud, booming, thundering sound coming from the village and saw the flames and thick smoke. He let out a small, strangled gasp and was quickly yanked upwards, into the arms of his waiting father.

"Invectids!" The man hissed with a fierce passion. "Probably the ones those spider riders saw! They're invading!"

"Mama..." Doyle murmured weakly, his eyes, the same green ones as Igneous and their mother, as wide as sauce plates. "...She and Tolkin are at home! Dad we have to go get them! They could be in Dange-"

"No!" Their father insisted, setting Igneous back down on the ground and anxiously looking at the fire spreading threw the village. "Take your brother and head down the mountains, I'll go back and get your mom and your brother and anyone else, and then we'll all go hide in that nearby place. Okay?!"

Unable to speak, Doyle and Igneous both nodded weakly, each still having trouble comprehending what was going on. They heard stories all the time of villages being wiped out by invectids, of people loosing all of their families in horrible, fiery attacks. Spider riders came through all the time talking about places like that, their father told them stories like that but they had no idea that it would ever happen to them! They never, ever thought it would!

"You know that, that uh, old oak tree over by the entrance to the forest? I want you two to wait for all of us there and if we don't come, I want the both of you to run as fast as you can possibly go to the nearest town for help and never look back! Okay!? Do you both understand that?!"

Neither boy had ever seen their father look so panicked before. There was something in his eyes, something wild, pure fear. Neither would ever realize that it wasn't the fear of running to fight the invectids after years of sitting on the sidelines but the fear of loosing either of them, or their other brother or mother or Flame that night. If something happened to any of them...Fitz wouldn't have been strong enough to handle it. He could fight off invectids until the cows came home but he'd never be brave enough to deal with the death of a loved one.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?" He repeated, screaming and shaking Doyle's shoulders. The older boy nodded, more anxiety settling in his chest by this erratic behavior. Their father was really scared.

Having finally gotten an answer from his children, their father stood up and looked grimly at the village, an unsettling feeling worming it's way into his chest. He looked down at Flame. "You ready to fight off evil again pal?"

Not being a talky sort, even in a situation as dark as this one, Flame just nodded.

Doyle grabbed Igneous hand and the two started running one way, away from the dangers lurking in their village, while their father and Flame turned and ran the other, straight into it.

_"...That was the last time Igneous ever saw his father alive."_

* * *

It had been hours since the last time the two brothers had seen their parents. They sat around under the old oak tree their father spoke about, lazily waiting and trying to kill as much time as possible. They should have run on to the nearest village already but neither was willing to admit what that would have implied. That would have implied that the rest of their family had been killed and that was simply not possible in their eyes.

Finally, after three hours, Igneous couldn't take it anymore. "That's it!" He declared to his older brother, "I'm going back to see what's happening! I can't take just lying around here, hoping and waiting! I want to see them okay!"

"You're right!" Doyle exclaimed, "Something has to have happened! I mean, there has to be a reason why they're not here yet!"

The two took off running back towards their village, trying not to trip over their own two feet as they struggled to get to the place they once called home. Thick clouds of smoke still rolled out over the tops of trees and buildings as they got closer to their home. Everywhere they looked they could hear the sounds of crackling flames, smell ash and hear the cries of suffering people. They tried not to listen to them. It only made them feel worse about not being able to help them out.

They kept running, not looking back, with their eyes directed solely on the roof of the building they called home. Neither took in their surroundings, looked at the bodies of both invectids and humans, at least not until they attempted to round one corner and the lifeless corpse resting against one of the burning buildings caught their attention. Doyle let out a horrified gasp while a loud, horrifying screech was the noise his brother produced. They saw before them, the cold and lifeless body of their father, lying in a pool of his own blood with his eyes opened in a final stare.

"Dad..." Doyle said weakly. "...Dad...I...I..."

"Daddy..." Igneous mumbled, feeling utterly pathetic and alone. He hadn't called his father 'daddy' since he was four years old but there he was, standing there with horrible tears forming in his eyes as he was unable to do anything but stare at what had once been his father. He threw himself at the ground, unable to control or hold back the sobs. "...Ple-please come back..."

Doyle said nothing. He simply sat down on the unforgiving ground beside his brother and their dad's corpse, wiping away his own tears on his arm and feeling bad for every bad thing he'd ever done in his entire existence. "...Dad..."

"Plea-please come back..." Igneous begged, his voice fragile and braking on almost every word as he struggled to speak through his tears, as viscous sobs jerked his body. "Please don't leave us..."

There was no reply, no sounds, except for the crackling of the nearby flames.

"Come on kids." A voice, gruff but smooth, hushed the two of them. "You two and I both know that your dad wouldn't want you to sob and cry like this. If you keep it up, you're going to make yourselves sick."

"Wh-Who said that?" Doyle asked, managing to get the tears to stop although his face was still red and puffy with small amounts of tears still clinging to his face.

"I did." The voice replied. "I'm not surprised you don't recognize me but you should at least have a small clue who I am. I've only known you for your entire lives, silly boys."

"...Fl-Flame?" Igneous asked, trying to keep his voice steady as he spoke and make the sobs stop. Whoever this person was, they were making a good point. Seeing either boys in this state would have ruined their father. "Is that you...?"

Sure enough, the manacle their father owned for years, lit up in response. "Yeah, it's me. Hello boys. I'm sorry to see you here, considering the circumstances."

"What happened here?" Doyle asked. "Why did the invectids attack here! We haven't done anything to hurt them or offend them! Why did they..." He choked, his eyes wandering over to his father's body. "Why'd they kill him...?"

"They heard that this place is where all the spider riders come to relax and decided to try and wipe out all of the spiders. This way, it would only be humans against invectids and they would have the advantage..." Flame paused, "...Your dad...was my best friend and he died saving my life. Without him...I would have been killed like all of the others."

This offered the boys some comfort. At least this way they knew their dad went out as a hero. Slowly, Doyle reached out and took the manacle from their father's wrist, placing it around his brother's instead. "...Dad wouldn't have wanted us to leave him here...and he would have wanted you to have it."

Igneous found himself unable to say anything in response. He just nodded and looked down at the device now on his arm.

Doyle forced a smile, for his little brother's sake. "Come on. We should get out of here before anyone comes looking for other spiders."

"Okay..." Igneous said softly, getting up off the ground and going to his brother's side. "...Do you think mom and Tolkin are okay?"

His older brother didn't have the heart to tell him what probably had happened. "...Sure." He lied.

* * *

They kept walking, not sure which way they were heading or what they were going to do when they got there. Everywhere they turned there were the lifeless bodies of their friends and neighbors, just lying there. Eventually, Doyle decided to cover his brother's eyes until they left the smoldering remains of their former home. Some how, they ended up only a couple feet away from the very cliff where they'd been this morning along with their father and Tolkin.

"...Where are we going to go?" Igneous asked finally, after they continued on in silence for some time. It hadn't taken Flame long enough to fall back into his usual habit of not saying a word and neither brother had the strength to say anything. "...If we can't find mom-" They had no other family and if their mom was gone, which, judging from the amount of unidentifiable bodies and lack of other survivors, was most likely true, than they were orphans now.

"Don't know." Doyle said with a shrug, "We'll keep walking. I think that the village nearby might take in some survivor-" He trailed off. His eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror as he felt a powerful, overwhelming surge of pain jolt through his body. He looked down and let out a loud, terrified shriek. There, stabbing his heart through his back with the end sticking out from his ribcage, was a large, sharp, bloody invectid blade.

"DOYLE!" Igneous shouted in alarm, looking around wildly for his brother's attackers. Sure enough, he was able to catch sight of a couple menacing shadows lurking nearby in the bushes.

"R-Ru-Run..." Doyle struggled to say, choking on this simple word. "Ple-please run..." He collapsed to the ground, his heart slowly down to a halt as soon as his body hit the grass beneath his feet. Doyle died of a mix of bloodless, pain, shock and a hole in his heart.

Igneous took off sprinting, running as fast as his young legs could carry him, towards the edge of the cliff. He had to get away from the invectids. They wanted to kill Flame just like they'd killed Doyle and his father! Once the spider was out of the picture, they'd do away with him too!

" _On that night, when he was running for his life from an unseen but very there pack of invectids, Igneous decided one thing. He wasn't going to let the invectids kill anyone else like they killed his family. If it cost him his life, Igneous was going to make sure every invectid living in Arachna died at the end of his blade_. "

He kept running, only stopping for a minute when he reached the end of the cliff and the waterfall. He had no where else to turn, no one left to help him out and the invectids that had killed Doyle were still close behind him. It was literally one way of death over the other. An invectid stepped out of the bushes, menacingly holding one blade, exactly like the one that had impaled Doyle in his hand. Igneous made his choice then. He jumped.

* * *

" _Woah...so...Igneous was now..."_

_"A seven year old orphan who witnessed the death of his older brother, stumbled across the corpse of his loving father and was forced to leap to what he believed would be his death off of one of the highest cliffs in Arachna into the freezing, icy cold water below? Yes."_

_"Hunter...I'm beginning to wish you hand't wanted to know these things..."_

_"So where do you come into this Slate?"_

_"I'm just getting to my part."_

* * *

A couple hours after the destruction of their neighboring village, everyone from the smaller, less populated village located at the bottom of the mountain were out looking for survivors and the injured, hoping to patch them up and send them on their way. They were a friendly group of people, the ones who'd walk three hours to attend an event that was important to a friend and smile the whole time. The Grey family were no exception.

Monnie and Stony Grey, along with their young son Slate, were farmers who lived on the closest land to the lake and forest located just under the waterfall. They weren't the richest family in town but they certainly weren't the poorest and were able to make do with what they had. Monnie was chipper and rather upbeat, a very loving wife and mother, as well as one of the best farmers in Arachna. Her husband Stony, a man who'd been rejected from the Arachnian army for numerous health problems, was cheery despite his situation and worked as hard as he could along with help from Monnie. Their son, their only child due to more health complicated health problems between the couple, Slate was handsome, strong, athletic with a good sense of humor and great people skills. He was determined to someday make his parents proud, not knowing that they were already intensely proud of him. When he'd been born with no health conditions, they had been able to breath easy.

" _Anyways, getting back to the story_."

Like the others in their village, after the destruction of their neighboring community, Monnie, Stony and Slate were poking around the nearby area for any sign of survivors. While Monnie was checking around the woods, Stony and Slate were searching for survivors near the lake. It was a long shot but there may have been some poor folks, forced to jump in order to survive.

Fearing the state of the survivors, Stony decided it might not have been best for his nine year old son to see one until their wounds were bandaged up. "Why don't you go swim in the lake while I look around?" He suggested to his son, who nodded eagerly and ran happily into the water. Slate might have been a friendly, fun young boy but he was a little odd.

While his parents looked around for survivors, the young boy splashed and swam from side to side until something nearby in the reeds caught his eye. Something shiny. Curiosity got the better of him and he swam over to see what it was.

Slate certainly wasn't prepared for what he found.

"H-Hey dad," He called to his father who was knee-deep in the water himself, still searching. "...I found someone!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Originally this was supposed to be the entire back story but it was too big and taking too long for this one chapter! So, it's going to be split up into two and the other half will be included in the third and final part of the story!
> 
> Thanks to TL-chan for the review and the advice, including what to do about a possible pairing between Slate/Igneous since there is no fics about them as a couple and it's annoying. Anyways, this won't be a serious romantic story, just a simple crush that one boy has on the other, you know? Deep buried feelings of love that are never going to surface due to the bad love-lives of spider riders (Unless I desire to write more.)
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

"What I had seen shining in the reeds was Igneous' manacle. The sun was really bright that day and making light reflect off any available metal surface. Anyway, I found him lying face down in the water, bleeding from a couple cuts on his back and arms. some of the invectids must have thrown some blades at him after he jumped and managed to hit him."

"What did you do Slate?"

"My dad came running over and brought him out of the water," The blond knight explained. "Once he was on dry land, he checked to see if Igneous was breathing."

"After jumping over the edge of a cliff into deep, rough water below, wouldn't he have drowned?" Corona asked.

"He almost did. He wasn't breathing for a while and my dad had to give him CPR." Slate sighed, feeling some sweat beginning to roll down off his forehead. He hated this part of the story. "I'll tell you, I've been in many battles before, many of them with Igneous, but I've never been more afraid than when the body of that child was just...lying there dead as my dad tried to bring him back." He decided to leave out some of the other details, for Hunter and Corona's sake. Diner was going to be served soon and he didn't want them to get sick. Hearing about how cold and lifeless Igneous looked then, with skin paler than pale, bleed slowly seeping out of his wounds and his eyes shut in such a relaxed way it looked like he was sleeping wouldn't do their appetites any good.

Why was he telling them this? If Igneous found out, he would freak! Some friends would threaten to kill each other for giving away secrets like this but not Igneous. No, he'd do something far worse. Why was Slate risking that just so he could tell two people who, while friendly and nice enough, would never be able to fully comprehend the impact these events had on Igneous?

Oh right. It had been close to ten years now and holding onto this any longer was going to drive both him and Igneous mad.

"Luckily, my father was able to get him breathing again after trying for a bit and we carried him into the village to receive proper medical help." Slate froze for a minute, struggling to find a way to say this next part. "...It's a miracle Igneous didn't die that day."

* * *

_"In the center of my village, an infirmary had been set up for refugees from the other village. Everyone was trying their best to help out and tried to do all they could to make sure these poor people got better...It was awful. I was only a child but when I was bring Igneous there with my father...I saw them."_

_"Saw what?"_

_"The victims. In total...we were able to save and help fifty six people from Igneous' village, out of a total population of 3000. That's less than one percent kids. I tell you, it was a total massacre. Everywhere I looked, I saw mothers screaming for their children, people shaking and crying, children begging and pleading with people to take them to their parents. There were people looking desperately for the lovers and...and they weren't there. It was worse to look at them than to look at the injured because...because the injured were just grateful that they hadn't been killed like their friends and neighbors."_

_"Oh Oracle..."_

_"We took Igneous to one of the medics and were told that they were going to have to sew up his cuts as quickly as possible. They took him aside and set to work, leaving us waiting to hear whether or not he was going to be okay. During the three hours we waited for answers, my dad tried to locate someone from his family but..."_

_"But what?"_

_"No one claimed him as part of their family. His mother and Tolkin weren't there. Given the number of causalities...it didn't take a genius to figure out we were dealing with an orphan."_

_"So what happened next Slate? What did you do!?"_

_"My father and I continued to wait until someone finally came and told us of his condition-"_

_"And?"_

_"...And they said that his cuts had been sewn up and the chances of him recovering were strong but-"_

_"But?"_

_"What do you mean but? How much more did he have to go through?!"_

_"But he had slipped into a slight comatose state while they were giving him the stitches needed to keep his wounds closed and they didn't know when he was going to wake up. Knowing we'd done everything we could, my father and I went home. But something inside me had changed that day. I had seen what true pain was in the faces of those poor people, I had seen hell in it's evilest form. That's when I decided that I was going to keep visiting that boy my father and I saved from the lake, until he woke up."_

Since their village was considerably small and every knew each other well, both Monnie and Stony didn't mind letting their son wander off on his own. Usually, he'd go play soccer or pretend to be a knight of Arachna like the other children but lately that wasn't the case. Lately, their son would come home with his head held down in defeat and a nonexistent smile. Some days, he'd leave with food or toys or books but he never came back with them. This continued for quite sometime before Monnie finally decided to see what was bothering her son.

The next morning she followed him out of the house, staying a good number of steps behind the boy and watching carefully as he trucked on with one of his favorite books tucked under his arm. He could have been reading stories to some of the younger children in the village but that wouldn't explain why he seemed to be depressed every time he came back home. What else could he have been doing with that book though?

It didn't take long for Slate to reach his desired destination, since, once again, their village was on the small side. He stopped in front of the infirmary that had been set up after the destruction of the neighboring village, and looked up at the sky, as if seeking some advice from the clouds, before stepping inside. Curious as ever, his mother followed close behind.

Two weeks had passed since her son and husband found a boy, younger than Slate, half-dead in the lake near their home and it still gave the poor woman the chills. She often wondered what would have happened if it had been their village that had been targeted instead of the other one, and wondered if someone would be finding her child close to dead somewhere. The scenario could only be called and described as her worst nightmare.

"Hello Loreali," Slate said to one of the medics currently tending one of the survivors that had had one of his arms ripped off during the chaos and was still recovering. "I was wondering if there was any progress since yesterday? Has anyone come forward as his family? Has he woken up yet?"

"I'm sorry young Slate." The medic said softly, trying to keep a soothing tone so she wouldn't wake any of the sleeping patients. "But your little friend hasn't awoken yet and no one has come in claiming to be a relative of his." She sighed, beginning to change some of the bandaging on the patient's side. "No one else is claiming to be a survivor and I fear that this small group may be the only ones."

"Oh." The young boy said and his face, one that used to always used to display a happy-go-lucky smile, fell into a sad pout. He had been hoping that the other boy would have waked up so he could finally talk to him. Things didn't always go the way you hoped them too though. "Can I go see him?"

The young medic nodded and she couldn't help but smile sadly. Before her stood this young child, a usually happy and friendly child, and he came into the infirmary every day to see how the child he'd helped saved was doing, even though he knew that he was going to leave sad and disappointed. He would come in sometimes with sweets and would try and coax the other boy into waking up and when he wouldn't, he'd leave them on his bedside table. Sometimes he'd bring toys for when he woke up and other times he'd bring in a book and try and read to him.

It was one of the things that restored her believe in the possibility of happiness and peace after seeing how cruel the world could be.

"Thank you." Slate said softly and started walking towards the cot where he knew the younger boy was resting. They hadn't moved him since he slipped in his coma weeks ago, fearing it could cause his stitched to brake open. This made locating him easier for Slate although he would wish to go somewhere else with the stranger, somewhere outside and fun, where the sun would beat down on them and they could act like children should act and have some fun.

Knowing that the young boy would be visiting every day until the other boy's recovery, Loreali made sure that there was always a chair by the cot for Slate to sit in when he talked to him. Sometimes, without Slate's knowledge, she'd stand on the other side of one of the curtains and listen to him when he tried to have a conversation with the poor kid. Often they went like this:

"So have you ever heard of the hero Quake?"

"..."

"He's my hero! Some of the other kids and I pretend to be spider riders and often I'm giving the role of Quake!"

"..."

"Maybe when you wake up, you can play with us too!"

"..."

"I'll even let you be Quake if you want!"

"..."

It was kinda of cute in a heart braking way.

Monnie and Loreali hid behind one of the curtains together that day as they listened to Slate read to the unconscious boy from his favorite book, one about the many adventures of the hero Quake and how he and a man named Digger Steele saved Arachna. After that day, whenever Slate left to go and see how the younger boy he saved was doing, his mother always tagged along with some sweets for the other patients.

* * *

_"That is actually really cute in an incredibly sad way."_

_"Well, I'm glad to say that things got a little happier from here. Slowly and surely, it starts getting happier."_

A couple days after Monnie started to tag along with her son to visit the survivors, Slate saw something that caught his attention. As usual, he was sitting beside the boy, reading from his book describing all of the greatest stories about spider riders, hoping for any sort of reaction to show that the other boy was even vaguely aware of what was happening. His mother was helping Loreali tend to some of the others, asking if they had any other family nearby to stay with until they got back on their feet and their village was rebuilt so it was just him and the younger boy. Light was shining in from one of the windows, causing light to reflect off any metal surface. Slate was in the middle of one paragraph about King Arachna when something made the sun reflect into his eyes. The boy winced, dropped the book and attempted to cover his eyes.

"What the-?" He asked, trying to figure out what could have caused this since it had never happened before. He slowly opened his eyes and began looking around to see what was causing this.

The younger boy was lying on his back, one arm lazily resting above his head, the sleeve of his yellow shirt slipping down to expose his arm. Around his wrist was something Slate had only seen in books before, something that made the sunlight reflect into his eyes, something that he always wanted to see in real life before. A spider Rider's manacle.

How was this possible?! There was no way that someone this young could have been an actual spider rider! This had to be some kind of fake! There was only one way for him to tell though. Slowly, Slate set his book down, stood up and went to the other boy's bedside. He stood over him for a few minutes, trying to get a better look at the manacle before he finally accepted that it was impossible to tell whether it was real or not without holding it. With extreme caution, Slate reached over the boy's face to touch it.

Suddenly, the other boy's eyes burst open and he snapped, sinking his teeth into Slate's extended hand. Slate let out a loud scream before yanking his hand free from the other kid's mouth and stumbled backwards in a mix of shock and pain.

" _You bit me_!" He screeched. " _You just totally bit me_!"

The other boy sat up in his cot, his navy blue curls falling down into his eyes but it was quite obvious that he didn't care. His eyes were wild, almost feral. "Who are you!?" He hissed, "What do you want with my manacle!?"

"YOU BIT ME!" Slate screamed at him, looking down at his hand. The other boy had managed to brake skin and some blood was slowly dripping down from the mark on his hand. "IT'S BLEEDING!"

"Where am I!?" The other screamed in response, whipping his head around, taking in all these new and strange surroundings. "Why'd you bring me here!?"

"MOM! LOREALI!"

The two women came running, Loreali had some bandages and herbs in her hands, having been doing inventory when she and Monnie heard the screams the two boys were making. Slate was screaming and looking down at his hand, the other boy was screaming and shooting a million questions at him rapid fire, trying to inch as far back on the cot as he could possibly get.

" _Haha, know we know why you used to call him Fang, huh Slate?_ "

" _That was the idea, yes_.  _After we became knights some of the others thought I needed to have a cool nickname too and Iggy decided that Claw went really well with Fang._ "

_"I don't understand though, if you and Igneous had such a bad...introduction, how'd you get to be such good friends?"_

_"Believe me Corona, it wasn't wasn't at first but once Loreali and my mom set us down, put a bandage on my hand and made us talk things out, we came to an understanding."_

After constant reassurance from the medic Loreali and informed all about Slate and his father's part in his rescue along with the current state of his former home, The strange boy was left feeling...rather weak and unable to speak. He just sat on his cot, looking down at his feet and trying to make sure he didn't start trembling.

"So..." Monnie said softly, placing one of her hands on the young boy's shoulder. "What's your name, honey?"

"Ign-igneous." He said weakly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His heart ached and he was sore all over but spending two weeks in a coma, lying in one of the most uncomfortable beds imaginable would do that to you.

"Do you have any family in any other parts of Arachna?" Loreali asked. She was sitting in between Slate and Igneous, trying to keep them away from each other just in case they started fighting. Igneous must have still been sore and he was still recovering, getting into a fight with someone who was perfectly healthy wasn't good for him.

He hadn't thought about it before but now that they had brought it up...there was a new and horrifying thought bouncing around in his head. Now he knew that he was truly alone in the world. "No..."

Unable to stand it anymore, Slate blurted out the main question on his mind. "Where'd you get that manacle?" He asked, directing the ladies' attention to the device. "I thought children weren't allowed to have battle spiders and you had to be a certain age to even be considered for one."

Igneous's hand hovered over the device. "I...I got it from my dad..."

The room fell into an awkward silence. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened to his parents. They were dead and now their child was alone and in desperate need of some help. He wasn't going to survive into his teens if he didn't have parents or family to support him, to put a roof over his head and give him some food. If someone didn't take him in...he was going to end up dead in the streets!

Monnie's motherly instincts kicked in seeing Igneous in need and she brushed one of his curls out of his eyes. "Igneous honey, would you like to stay with my family for a while? Stony loves kids and having another kid around to play with might keep him from causing his usual mischief.

"Oh!" Igneous exclaimed, a bright red blush spreading across his face. "I-...I don't want to impose..."

"It's not imposing!" Monnie insisted, "We live on the farm and we can take you on as an extra hand!"

He had no choice. Igneous was out of options and besides, this lady seemed pretty nice and if she tried to do anything bad than he could just go get some help from the other adults in the village. He'd help them out on the farm and earn his keep and then, once he was old enough, he would travel to Arachna and kill every last invectid to avenge his family!

"Okay." Young Igneous said with a small and shy little smile.

* * *

"So that's how it happened. Since he was out of options and my parents were more than willing to take him in, he came to stay with us. My parents treated him like one of their own and we came to look after each other. We became friends." Slate said slowly, just about to wrap up the story. "Time passed and we started to grow up. I went through it first, since I was two years older than him, and when he did he slowly started to change things about himself. He started gelling his curls up, acting serious and the fun and innocent quality he used to have...was slowly drained from him."

When Igneous was younger, he had to have been one of the most innocent and happy people in the inner world and that changed in a flash. He went from a loving family in a huge, beautiful, well respected village to an orphan boy living in a tiny, farming village. He couldn't really complain though. At least he was in a good home with people who weren't going to hit him or anything. Still though, seeing your dad and brother murdered in front of you, adding in the death of your other brother and mother, than you're not going to be okay. As a result of that, he developed night terrors and held them for years, as well as abandonment issues that still remained.

To put it simply, Igneous wasn't the same.

...And it was killing Slate to see his friend transforming into someone he wasn't.

In the seven years they'd known each other, Slate had only seen Igneous genuinely smile a number of times and each time it was beautiful. His nose would scrunch up and his eyes would sparkle a certain way and his smiles could light up the darkest rooms. When he laughed he would always grin, and snort in a way that was actually quite adorable. Not that he'd ever say that to him. Slate enjoyed being in one piece.

"I started to get more and more interested in joining the Arachnian knights. Igneous was interested all along and so when we were finally able to get the money, we moved here and signed up." He laid back against the dirt, taking another look up at the sky. "...So now you know."

Corona and Hunter sat silently beside him. The girl had her knees pulled up to her chest and was looking as if she was at a funeral. Hunter was frowning, lying on his back just like the blond himself. The two of them actually looked really upset and concerned. He warned them though. He told them that this story wasn't for the faint of heart.

"Remember, you can't tell Igneous or treat him any different now." Slate warned the two of them. "If he finds out I squealed about his past than he'd kill me! Besides, Igneous is a strong and stubborn guy, if he wanted to tell anyone about it than he would have a long time ago."

Neither Corona or Hunter said anything, they just sat there, letting Slate's story soak in. In the distance, the dinner bell rang. About time too, it was getting really late and if Slate stayed outside with these two any longer he might have gone about revealing everything he or Igneous ever tried to cover up. I'm talking about real embarassing crap like the time they had to cross dress in order to infiltrate an invectid event or the time they accidentally drank some mead and ended up drunk and puking all over the main corridor in Arachna castle or even worse, how before the vomiting, they accidentally kissed and...how Slate actually liked it.

No one could know about that.

He rose to his feet and stretched for a minute, offering the two younger riders a lazy grin despite the dark topic they had been discussing. "Come on guys, dinner!" Knowing they were surely going to ask him more questions on the way inside, Slate started walking ahead of them, also knowing they'd follow close behind. When Corona wasn't cooking dinner, everyone rushed to get to the table.

"...Hey Hunter?" Corona said softly, still looking sadly at the ground, struggling to understand how something so awful could have happened to anyone let alone someone so noble like Igneous. "...I...I don't know what to think now...Poor Igneous..."

"He has to be bottling all of this up inside him." Hunter said in agreement. "It would explain his short temper and how emotionally distant he is from everyone. He doesn't want to get hurt again..." He jolted upwards. "We have to find a way for Igneous to let out all of his pent up emotions!" A grin slowly spread across his face. "And I have a good idea how we're going to do it but we're going to need some help from good old Prince Lumen and the others..."

On that note, he began whispering his plan to Corona who smiled eagerly in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so guess what I've decided to do? I've decided to add another part. So yeah, said this was going to be a three parter but I don't want it to end all sad and gloomy so I threw in some stuff. I think I liked the 2nd chapter a little more but this one was cute right? Lil'Slate trying to wake Lil'Iggy up by reading and talking to him as if he's actually coherent...sad but cute.
> 
> Enjoy.


	4. Chapter 4

Hunter knew that what he was planning something risky but he couldn't leave well enough alone. He had to help Igneous. He could just tell that his friend still wasn't over what had happened and that the trauma he experienced as a child was beginning to set in and affect the way he lived his life. It it was clear to him that Igneous needed help.

Convincing Prince Lumen to go on vacation was a snap. All he had to do was chose the right words. Sleep, pretty girls, not working, food and relaxing being them. Stubborn or not, Igneous couldn't go against his prince's orders. As soon as the Prince decided to travel to some of the farther lying villages, Igneous had to say yes. He made his negative feelings towards the idea of visiting around the area he grew up quite clear though.

Currently, as they rode on their spiders up the mountain towards his home town, the moody knight sat in silence, ignoring any and every attempt to make conversation. Slate, who was being forced to ride with Hunter as he hadn't removed his spider from her new job and because Igneous refused to speak with him as well, also was obviously not happy with this development. If he had known that Hunter would have gone behind his back and done somehing so sneaky and underhanded he would have never told him anything about what his best friend had gone threw.

"It's rather beautiful here." Corona said with a soft smile, trying to lighten the mood for the sake of the journey.

"Yes," Prince Lumen responded. "It would appear that the people here did an excellent job rebuilding with the money the crown lent them. Although they're still paying that back...perhaps my appearance here today will help get the rest of the loan back to me on time."

Igneous mumbled something completely inappropriate to even think of in the company of royalty under his breath and gave Flame a signal to speed up.

"Um...Prince? Maybe that would be something that we put on the list of the things absolutely to not do while vacationing. You know so we can actually come back?" Magma suggested. "Come on Prince, let's not make these places ban the spider riders."

"Ifonly...-" Igneous mumbled again. "-maybewhathappenedwouldn'thavehappened."

Slate groaned and bit down on his lower lip. By the oracle he was going to kill Hunter For even thinking of a plan this dimwitted! And then he would never tell him or Corona about anything that they had ever done before the two of them showed up ever again!

"The spider riders are the greatest heroes in all of Archna. I doubt that what I say will have any impact on their decisions to invite us all back," Prince Lumen replied quite Cooly. "Now, if we had brought Bugese and his family along that would have been another story."

It was no secret that some areas were having difficulties coming to terms with the peace and promise to help the others that Bugese swore. There had been protests, a lot escalating quite quickly and knights had to be sent out to calm the people down. One of them had come back missing an arm and talking about a group of rebels against the crown, ones that were fighting to kill any invectid that came in their paths. And...anyone who sympathized with them, hence the missing limb. The spider riders and Crown were also in this category. Which, of course, would make this vacation a bit dangerous. Hunter was sure when they got to the villages and had roofs over their heads, all would be safe.

They moved along slowly, starting up a gentle incline towards a mountain village. They had taken a less travelled road, through the thicker part of the forest to avoid any rebels but as they started up, Hunter could see Slate and Igneous grow tenser.

They passed an oak tree, ancient looking and bigger than Any Hunter had seen on earth, and Igneous shut his eyes quickly and turned away, in a manor that looked like he was in physical pain.

This was where he and his brother had been waiting for their father...

Hunter quickly whispered for Shadow to speed up and pass it to avoid any...serious repercussions.

"That's quite a tree." Magma noted and signaled his spider to go in for a closer look. Hunter paled and felt his stomach knot up. Igneous was going to kill him for this...is he survived the trip. Magma was unaware of any danger and slowly reached out when he was close enough to run his hand over the bark.

"Fascinating..." He said to himself, and suddenly he felt something odd. A dent almost, in the bark. He leaned and closer and discovered that it was a carving of a name and there were nearly a thousand more on this side of the tree.

"Elsa Underbark." He read out.

"What?" Corona asked.

"Elsa Underbark," Magma repeated and tried to read more of the carving. "And there's a date. I think it's year of birth to year of death..." He frowned and like he had touched his namesake, pulled his hand back and screamed. "This is a grave marker!"

Curiosity peaked and Lumen dismounted his spider and hurried over to see for himself. He leaned in and tried to get a better look at the cravings. "I would have to say...that this is some kind of memorial. Invectids attacked this area years ago, many people were killed. This must be how the survivors tried to cope, tried to remember what happened."

Something caught the prince's eye. The names were plentiful and mess tin their organization but there were three names off to the left, branched out a bit from the others. He frowned and tried to read them but two were old and worn from the rain. It was only the last name, the one on the bottom, that was still eligible. Despite the wear of the other two, it was obvious to tell that they all had the same surname. They had been family.

Lumen didn't normally care so much about the pasts of others, about the lives of those long deceased, it was how he coped with the deaths of his parents, but he hoped that it wasn't two parents and their only child. He hoped that a whole family hadn't perished that day. He ran his fingers over the more eligible name and felt a chill roll up his spine.

"Igneous..." He said.

"Yes my prince?" The knight asked, though his tone was still sollun and bitter. He didn't want to be here and he would make that obvious as humanly possible.

"Igneous," The Prince repeated. "The name here...its Igneous..."

"That's not possible. I'm not dead." Igneous placed his hand on his own chest, as if to signify that he was solid and not a ghost. "See?"

"These people think you are." Magma interjected. "They think you died with the rest of these people...weird."

"Creepy is more like it." Corona replied, and shivered at the thought. "Come on. Let's go. This place is giving me the creeps."

Magma and Prince Lumen nodded and returned to the group without further word on why Igneous' name may be carved into the tree. It was definitely going to be a sensitive topic and Igneous was already steamed at them for bringing him along on this trip to begin with. They knew better than to poke the bear.

The nearest village was near the top of the mountain, cliff edges were surely at the end of each forest that surrounded the small settlement. A few farmers were selling their wares on the streets, along with bakers and butchers. The streets had become a market place, full of people buying groceries and trying to find good bargains.

When the spider riders made their presence known, it wasn't to a receptive crowd. Some glared at them, the nice ones, that is. Others mumbled things under their breath and openly criticized both the crown and the spider riders. A few farmers' sons grabbed tomatoes from their parents' carts and prepared to chuck them at their heads. For once, Lumen could sense the danger and didn't open his mouth to worsen the situation.

"Some vacation." Igneous mumbled to himself, and told Flame to hurry up. He wanted to get out of here as quickly as they could.

"Perhaps we should seek shelter inside somewhere?" Corona suggested. "Put the spiders in their manicles and try to lay low?"

"That's probably for the best." Hunter agreed. "I think there's a pub up ahead. We can hide out there." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pub was crowded with former soldiers and knights of Archna, farmers who already sold all their wares, and the normal drunks and teens that polluted bars. A waitress with long, curly blonde hair and an unmistakeable pregnancy bump ran around serving tables and taking orders. The spider riders were able to slip in undetected, and take refuge in a booth on the far side of the bar. No spiders, no way of possibly being able to identity who they were.

"I had no idea how hostile these people are." Lumen said, though only to himself. "They hate us, hate the whole royal family....why?"

"A lot of people don't approve of the monarchical system of government. They want democracy." Hunter pointed out. "That's what happened on Earth. They replaced the royals with elected officials."

Lumen's face twisted up in disgust. "Over my dead body."

"A lot of royals were killed during these revolutions. Some were beheaded by gulletions and others were executed."

The prince became visibly pale. "Oh. Oh my."

The waitress hurried to their table and pulled a pad and pen from her apron. "What can I get you folks?"

"Would you like help, miss?" Magma asked. "You shouldn't be working in this condition...is there anyone else on today?"

"My mother in law. She's pouring drinks and making food in the kitchen. My boyfriend is getting some supplies at the market and will be back shortly. Thank you though." The waitress smiled. "My name is Orchyess."

Orchyess took their order for food and disappeared into the kitchen to place the order for her mother in law. Magma smiled as he watched her go and Hunter could only roll his eyes. What was with his friends and falling in love with women that they could never possibly have? First Igneous and now him. He could only hope that he wasn't next in the line...

"Igneous," Slate said softly, noticing how quiet his friends had become since they entered the tavern. "Are you alright?"

Arachna's Fang could only shake his head no and leaned against the wall for support, to keep his head up. He had grown incredibly pale, more than usual, and he looked stunned. Like someone had hit him in the face with a baseball bat. "What's wrong?" Slate asked him, keeping his voice low to avoid Hunter and Corona from hearing, the traitors.

"This place is...familiar. It's like the one my family..." He couldn't finish the words. They trailed off and Igneous started to feel sick. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to leave immediately before something else could go wrong. He felt Slate put his hand on his shoulder, trying to keep his nerves from getting the better of him, but it wasn't working. Igneous was starting to feel physically ill.

The door to the pub swung open and two men entered carrying grocery bags. They were both dressed in dark clothing and had hoods up, covering their faces. They entered slowly, and headed towards the back. One of the men, the taller one, went on business as usual, but the shorter paused while passing their booth and though none of the spider riders could see his face, something told them he was glaring at them. "Narbeth."

The tall man growled and the other hurried back into line. Something about him struck the whole team as odd. He was just...intense in a way. Though they had not heard him speak yet or seen his face, they could tell he was someone to be feared, to be reckoned with.

Prince Lumen leaned across the table and lowered his voice to avoid any eves droppers. "I think he's one of the rebels. Maybe both. They have their faces covered to avoid being identified." As much as he wanted to say that was absurd, Hunter had to admit that he had a point. And this area wasn't exactly spider rider friendly anymore.

"We should leave-" he started to say just as Orchyess appeared from the kitchen and delivered their food. Magma smiled at her stupidly, and watched her return to the kitchen to gather the food ordered by another table. "I think I'll stay."

Hunter rolled his eyes and started eating. "Oh brother."

Igneous said nothing and started to pick at the food on his own plate. After a while his stomach told him that he wouldn't be able to fight the urge to eat much longer and he took a bite. It tasted like something he'd had years ago, when he was still a child. His mother used to say it was her speciality, meatloaf cooked to perfection, with a side of...something...that to this day Igneous could not identify. He set his fork down and started staring off into space. ...it couldn't be. His mother was dead. She and his brother died that night. They had never been found! Someone who survived must have been a friend of hers, someone who learned her recipe.

The tall man with the hood was watching them from the kitchen doorway, arms folded in front of his chest. Hunter was the first to notice him, just out of the corner of his eye. He frowned, and waited for him to make his move. Orchyess appeared at his side, tugging at his arm to try and get him to return to work. The man ignored her and slowly started sauntering towards them.

"Spider Riders are not welcome here anymore." He said, voice radiating confidence and a sense of self righteousness that would startle even the Prince. "You better get out."

"I beg your pardon?" Lumen asked, "If I were you I would hold your tongue. You are talking to the ruler of Arachna

I know very well who I'm talking to. I'm talking to a child who is incapable of successfully leading his people. I'm talking to a leader who could not protect his people and commands a group of untrustworthy, unreliable, morons who could not even protect one of Arachna's supposedly "beloved" villages!" He paused, most likely to calm himself and prevent any violent outbursts. "My family was murdered because of you people, the spider riders! My brothers, they were children and they died horribly! My father was killed brutally! All that was left, for years, was me and my mother so I suggest, when I say you should do something, that you do it." He straightened himself up. "Please leave."

Igneous was the first to respond. He stood up, and placed his hands firmly on his hips. He glared at the other man.

"We don't have to listen to you. What happened was...was not the spider riders' fault. It was believed that the village was strong enough to defend itself and when the invectids attacked..." He took a deep breath, almost as if he was trying to convince himself of this."It was a horrible accident and nothing more. We are sorry it happened but there is nothing we could have done to prevent it."

"What do you know? You're just some stuck up teenager. You wouldn't have been one of the riders when they attacked here! You don't know how horrible it was!"

Both igneous and the man with the hood seemed unaware of how loudly they were talking. All eyes on the pub were on them now, as their face off continued.

The man with the hood shook his head violently. "I had nightmares for years of my baby brothers being ripped apart by those bugs, crying for help that I could not provide them. They would have suffered so much-"

"There were people here who knew how to handle this situation and it was still too much. We would have just made the situation worse-"

"Keep on telling yourself that. You could have saved lives for once, You know? Instead you did nothing -"

Igneous growled, actually growled at this other man, and the rest of the spider riders could do nothing but watch and wonder what was happening before them. This was...the strangest thing they had over witnessed Igneous do. Except for Slate who had known Igneous long enough to experience how weird he could be.

"Stop acting like you know everything!" He snarled.

"At least you didn't have to see people die! I saw my own brother get gutted by an invectid! You only have your imagination!"

"You were here!" The tall man shouted in surprise. "And yet you defend the Spider Riders...Why?!"

"Because they are the only ones who will ever be capable of preventing something like that from happening again!" By now Igneous was loosing any patience he had with this man. He held his manacle up in front of his face, to try and illustrate his point. The man did nothing, said nothing, for once.

"I am a spider rider, like my father before me. I will not stop until I know everyone in Archna is safe. I will serve the crown until the day I die and protect everyone I possibly can, whether they appreciate my help or-"

The man with the hood surged forward and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around Igneous' shoulder and hugged him tight.

The knight stood there for a few seconds, confused and unable to think of a logical next step to deal with this man. He looked back over his shoulder at his friends for some kind of guidance, but most looked as lost as he felt.

"...let go." He decided to say, and started trying to wiggle his way free. "What are you doing. This type of combat is illogical."

"We blocked out any news of the spider riders that came our way..." The man started to say. "We had no idea that you were even..." He cut himself off, choking something back. A sob. The man with the hood was...crying.

"Uh..." Igneous looked back at the others again, and tried to get them to help him out here. No one moved. His friends were assholes.

"How did I not see it the moment I entered this place?" The man with the hood asked. "You look...just like him, only..."

The man with the hood finally released Igneous and took a step back. Igneous towered over him, if only by an inch or two, but both were considerably tall. "You got bigger. I remember you used to be the one who looked up at me."

"Okay..." Igneous wondered if he made a run for it, could he get outside and disappear into the market just long enough to avoid this strange man following him. "This is kinda creeping me out..."

For a moment the man didn't say a word and tried to figure out why his joy was one sided. He laughed when he realized why thought it didn't seem genuine. It sounded hollow, almost bitter. He removed his hood and held it against his hip, revealing shaggy, navy blue hair that had been tied back to avoid getting in the man's eyes. His light green eyes. The same as Igneous'. The fang of Archna felt his throat go dry and he was barely able to choke out the word.

"Tolkin..." His eldest brother, believed to be dead for ten years, was standing before him alive and well. But if this was real and not down cruel joke then...

Igneous ran past his brother, past the other man with the hood, and into the kitchen. There was a woman with her back to him, pouring drinks. She was older now, but Igneous could remember her anywhere.

"Mother." She dropped the pitcher and it shattered


End file.
